USA > Michigan > Lenawee County > Illustrated history and biographical record of Lenawee County, Mich. > Part 40
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ILLUSTRATED HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL
in 1865 with the intention of going to St. Louis, Mo., but was finally persuaded by Mr. Applegate to remain and take charge of the office. This he did, and from that time up to the present has been faithful to his trust, being still in the employ of the Times Company. On Saturday, September 9, 1865, the entire plant of the Watchtower was sold to Gen. William Humphrey, and on the following Monday the paper appeared as the Adrian Daily and Weekly Times, com- pletely changed in politics and public policy, Mr. Applegate still re- maining. In the fall of 1866 General Humphrey was elected Auditor General of Michigan, and in 1867 sold his interest in the Times to Dr. Ragan and Prof. Lowrie, then of the Adrian College faculty, when the firm became Ragan, Lowrie & Applegate. In the fall of 1867 Capt. J. H. Fee purchased the interest of Dr. Ragan, when the firm name was changed to Lowrie, Applegate & Fee. In 1868 Pro- fessor Lowrie retired and for nineteen years the paper was published by Applegate & Fee. In 1885 Mr. Applegate became the sole pro- prietor, which continued until his death, December 27, 1891, where- upon his widow, Mrs. Harriet M. Applegate, at once assumed the personal management of the paper and carried it on successfully un- til her tragic death in a railway accident at Flint, Mich., June 14, 1901.
THE EXPOSITOR.
In 1843 S. P. and T. D. Jermain established the Weekly Expos- itor as a rival to the Watchtower, and at once it became the recognized organ of the Whig party. Jermain Brothers were bright, ambitious, enterprising men, and they soon firmly established a tri-weekly edition, which was a success from the start. In 1854, upon the or- ganization of the Republican party, "Under the Oaks" at Jackson, the Expositor at once fell in line and became the leading Republican paper in Southern Michigan, the late Francis R. Stebbins being the political editor. Jermain Brothers built in 1852 what was then re- garded as a huge four-story office block on the north side of East Maumee street, facing the Watchtower building, whence the editors hurled defiance at one another as occasion demanded. The building was constructed with special reference to accommodating the princi- pal offices of the Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana railroad. Several rooms were occupied as railroad offices and the rest of the building was devoted to the printing business. The Messrs. Jer- mains had been successful in securing the major part of the printing required by this great thoroughfare, and the office was well equipped with type and machinery for doing the work satisfactorily. In 1857 the railroad moved its headquarters from Adrian to Toledo, and most of the printing followed. That year the Jermain Brothers dissolved their partnership, T. D. withdrawing, and in company with Horace Brightman, then also a citizen of Adrian, purchased the Milwaukee, Wis., Sentinel. In 1859, S. P. Jermain took in as
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RECORD OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
partners in the publication of the Expositor Marcus Knight and Richard I. Bonner. The Tri-Weekly Expositor, together with the weekly, were successful publications. In 1860 public policy as well as party exigency demanded a daily publication. Early in the year of the famous Lincoln campaign, Mr. Henry E. Baker, of Detroit, an experienced and able newpaper man, was induced to come to Adrian and take a quarter interest in the office. He at once became the editor and political director, and during the years of the great Re- bellion his talent and energy were devoted to the cause. Mr. Baker and Mr. Bonner are the only persons now alive who were directly interested with the publication of the paper. In 1868 the Expositor building and plant were purchased by the late Dr. John Kost, who carried on the business for about one year, when the Expositor was absorbed by The Adrian Times, afterwards being known as The Times and Expositor.
THE TIMES PRINTING COMPANY.
In September, 1901, Thomas A. Dailey came to Adrian from Washington, D. C., where he was in the employ of the government, and began to organize a local corporation for the purpose of secur- ing sufficient capital to purchase the Times property. With him came DeWitt Wessell, from Jackson, Mich., a practical printer and newpaper man, who had been employed in The Jackson Citizen office 24 years. Together they took $9,000 of the stock and the remaining $7,000 was subscribed by Adrian people. The new company was in- corporated October 8, 1901, with $16,000 cash capital, which was im- mediately paid for The Times plant, good will and business, and October 12 the new owners took possession, with Mr. Dailey as editor and manager, and Mr. Wessell as city editor. The present officers of the corporation are Thomas A. Dailey, President; DeWitt Wessell, Vice President; Leslie B. Robertson, Secretary ; Burton E. Tobias, Treasurer. A marked increase in the business of The Times Printing Company necessitated enlarged facilities. The old Weekly Times, which had been issued in two parts for several years, was changed to a tri-weekly, an 8-column folio, which together with the Daily Times was, at the beginning of 1904, enlarged to eight pages of six columns each. The building on South Winter street, which had served as its home for more than twenty years, became so crowded that a new location was rendered imperative, and on December 28, 1903, The Times Printing Company purchased the Abel Whitney homestead, No. 40 East Maumee street, a beautiful lot, measuring five by fifteen rods, and on the west half of this site The Times is now erecting its home, a building measuring 33x130 feet, which, when completed, will be one of the finest printing plants in Michigan. It is being equipped with every modern appliance for the rapid, eco- nomical and systematic production of newspapers and printed mat-
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ILLUSTRATED HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL
ter. The building will be heated by steam and lighted by both gas and electricity. Nothing will be omitted to make it a model print- ing plant.
THOMAS A. DAILEY,
editor and manager of The Adrian Times, is a native of Michigan, born in Grand Rapids, October 24, 1852, at which time his father was operating a line of river boats in company with Daniel Ball. In 1856 the family moved to Niagara County, N. Y., in 1862 to Toledo, O., and in 1868 to Somerset, Hillsdale County. Thomas A. Dailey was educated in the public schools of New York, Ohio and Michigan. He entered Hills- dale College in 1869, taught school in the winter and wrote for various newspapers during his college course, and after the destruction of Hillsdale College by fire in 1873, he went to the University of Notre Dame, at South Bend, Ind., where he graduated, subse- quently receiving the degrees of Master of Arts and Master of Sciences. He took the full law course, received a univer- sity diploma, was admitted to the bar in Michigan, Indiana and Illinois, practicing for a brief time, joined the Page Exploring Expedition in the Rocky Mountain region, re- Thomas A. Dailey, turning taught in the public schools of South Bend, and was superintendent of schools at New Carlisle, engaged in the publica- tion of a morning paper in South Bend and. an evening paper at Elkhart, and was interested in various mercantile enterprises until failing health sent him to the Gulf coast of Texas, where he re- mained four years, during which time he served as professor of mathematics and rhetoric in Goliad College, of which Dr. A. A. Brooks, of Ann Arbor, was president. He traveled extensively dur- ing those years, edited a Texas weekly for amusement, and became a prolific writer for many publications. Returning to Michigan in 1882, and declining a professorship in the Texas University at Aus- tin, he was in October of that year united in marriage with Miss Ella Isabella Davison, of Somerset, Hillsdale County, and went di- rectly to Winona, Minnesota, where he took charge of a large news- paper, book and job office which was highly successful. On the ex-
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RECORD OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
piration of his lease he traveled in the West, but for family reasons returned to Michigan and took an editorial position on the Jackson Citizen with Hon. James O'Donnell, engaging actively in politics. Mr. O'Donnell was a member of Congress eight years and Mr. Dailey had charge of the important editorial work of that period. In the 51st Congress Mr. Dailey was appointed clerk of the committee on educa- tion, and was subsequently variously employed in the government service at Washington and as private secretary for Congressman O'Donnell. He was recognized as an authority on tariff and eco- nomic questions, has written many stories, poems and romances for pastime, has at intervals filled editorial positions on the Chi- cago Times and Tribune and on the Detroit Tribune, but always liked best the small city with its simple comforts and congenial friends, who make life worth living. Mr. and Mrs. Dailey have one daughter, Miss Cecil. Eloise, now a student in the Adrian High School.
JOB WILLEY was born in Potsdam, N. Y., February 5, 1821, and came to Michigan with his parents in 1836, settling in Bliss- field. He married Miss Rachel Worth, December 24, 1845. He
Mr. and Mrs. Job Willey.
was a merchant all his life, a successful business man, and highly respected. He died in Blissfield. His wife now resides in Petoskey, Mich. For a record of the Willey family see page 444 of this volume.
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ILLUSTRATED HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL
THE CITY OF HUDSON,
By an act of the Michigan Legislature Hudson became a city in 1893. It is the second place in importance and population in the county. It is situated on Bean Creek, on the county line been Lenawee and Hillsdale counties, in the township of Hud- son, surrounded by a most excellent farming country, and its busi- ness men are ever alert to the best interests and growth of the city. The great trunk line railroad between Chicago and New York, the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, and the Cincinnati Northern rail- way, running north and south, pass through the city. Besides these two important thoroughfares, the Toledo and Michigan Elec- tric railroad, now being constructed from Coldwater east to Adrian
Central Public School Building, Hudson, Mich.
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RECORD OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
and Toledo, will put Hudson on another very important line with interurban service. The manufacturing interests of the city are important and prosperous, while a large amount of farm products are handled, altogether making Hudson a commercial center of much importance. The city is supplied with a good system of waterworks, which affords adequate fire protection as well as a sup- ply for manufacturing and domestic purposes. There is now about three-quarters of a mile of cobble-stone paving, but the subject of brick pavement is agitating the people, and it is a question of but a short time before the streets will be well sewered and paved. A good electric light system is in active operation. The city is well supplied with churches, and the public school system will compare favorably with any city in Michigan. Below we give a list of the
MAYORS SINCE THE ORGANIZATION OF THE CITY.
S. E. Lawrence, 1893. S. E. Lawrence, 1894. Herbert E. Loyster, 1895. Charles B. Stowell, 1896.
William N. Derbyshire, 1899.
Orrin R. Pierce, 1900.
Orrin R. Pierce, 1901.
Orrin R. Pierce, 1902.
Henry C. Hall, 1897.
Henry C. Hall, 1898.
Edward Frensdorf, 1903. Edward Frensdorf, 1904.
The public schools of the City of Hudson were consolidated by act of the Legislature in 1891, and since that time the facilities for doing good educational work have been materially increased. The Board of Education consists of six members, and three convenient buildings accommodate the pupils. The Central Building, located on one of the most beautiful spots in the city, a picture of which we show, is situated upon a large lawn and shaded play ground. The school library contains over 1,600 volumes of carefully selected books.
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ILLUSTRATED HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL
A REMINISCENT POEM.
The following poem was written by the late Dr. Henry Knapp, an old resident and active citizen of Adrian, Coming to Adrian in an early day, his family growing up amidst the hope and early strug- gles of the community, his sympathy ever remained with it. The sentiment and pathos expressed will find a lodging place in many a heart. Dr. Knapp left Adrian many years ago, owing to enfeebled health, and found vigor and new life on the Pacific Coast. The poem was written in 1875:
Hail, Adrian ! long ago our home, "Sweet Home," where oft our fancies roam. In eighteen hundred forty-nine, We joined our fortunes unto thine; For twenty years through good and ill,
We strove our mission to fulfill,
Witnessed thine early, eager strife, To struggle into larger life, And soon through skill and enterprise,
Lovely homes and mansions rise; All thy borders spreading wide,
Improvements strewn on every side, College, schools and churches brought Influence, dignity, and taught Science, culture, morals, art, All combining to impart Wealth and honor, virtue, fame, To thy far-extolled good name. Then we parted.
Health and leisure, Then we sought in greater measure, Far beyond the western prairies, High among the grand sierras, Where beneath Nevada's mountains, Gold and silver have their fountains, And where California's rivers Pour continuous Golden treasures, Where perpetual summer reigns, And blooming flowers bedeck the plains. Here we sought and found new vigor, Freed from Adrian's wintry rigor. But what though these golden treasures, From a thousand hills and rivers, Pour continual at our feet ? And what though these myriad flowers, Waft perfume in fragrant showers, Bathing us in incense sweet? Yet from these untold attractions, And unnumbered wild distractions, Oft we turn our wistful eyes, Yearning toward the orient skies, Where our precious dead reposes, 'Neath fair "Oakwood's" vines and roses; While we wait this side the River, Till permitted to pass over, With the friends of forty-nine, Who have passed the border line. With Watson, Comstock, Tiffany,
Enshrined in grateful memory, Bonner, Bodwell, Baker, Berry, Billings, Bidwell, Beecher, Carey, Hart, Jermain, and Barnard, Brown, Linnell, Ingalls, Whitney, Stone, Truax, Nixon, Cornell, Strong, Harwood, Lothrop, Hoyt and Cook, Ramsdell, Cooper and Phillbrook, Goldsbury, Dean and Underwood; Beaman, Bennett, Benedict, Sinclair, Spaulding, Wilcox, French and Sayer, Kimball, Clark, Wright and Tayer, Dennis, Cleveland, Croswell, Owen, Wood, Bixby, Winans, Bowen; Fathers Randolph, Sword and Todd, Always walking close with God; Sister, daughter, father, mother, Warner, Dodge and many another, Woodbury, Smith and others, Dear lamented soldier brothers,
Cooley and dear Ira Buck, pure types Of perfect manhood, fully ripe; O, the mournful, long procession, Moving on to take possession Of their crowns and palms of conquest Over earth and all its unrest.
But despite these sad reflections, Still our love and warm affections, "Backward roll the wheels of time," Till again we meet together, As of yore, at friendships shrine Grasping hands each with the other, As in days of " Auld Lang Syne," Ere they crossed the border line. Frequent then in gladsome mirth, Neighbors gathered round our hearth; Oft enjoying social meetings, Festivals and kindly greetings; Christmas, New Years and Thanksgivings, Graced by dearest wife's good livings; Business prosperous, children merry, Minds improving, gay and cheery, Music filling all our dwellings, Up from sweetest voices swelling; O, these memories oft returning Fill our hearts with homesick yearning, And in fancy we live o'er All these happy scenes once more.
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RECORD OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
JAMES MCINTYRE was born in Copenhagen, Lewis County, N. Y., March 12, 1839. His father, John McIntyre, was born in County Antrim, Ireland, in 1808, where he resided until 1830, when he came to America, first settling in Montreal, Canada. He lived there about one year, and then moved to Rochester, N. Y. In 1833 he purchased a farm near Copenhagen, where he resided until his death, which occurred May 12, 1876. His parents were Scotch, and went to Ire-
James McIntyre.
Mrs. Adelia M. McIntyre.
land with the Dissenters during the religious persecutions. John McIntyre, when a boy, learned the linen weavers' trade, following it in Ireland and while he lived in Montreal, and also about one year in Rochester, N. Y. September 20, 1834, John McIntyre married Mrs. Mary Rice Stuart, and they had seven children, James being the third child. Mrs. Mary (Rice) McIntyre was born in County Antrim, Ireland, in 1804, came to the United States with her parents Robert and Mary Rice, in 1833, and settled in Harrisburg, Lewis County, N. Y .. She died there August 3, 1872. James McIntyre, subject of this sketch, was brought up a farmer and lived with his parents until December 26, 1861, when he enlisted in Company K., 94th New York Volunteer Infantry, and served two years in the great Rebellion, when he was discharged for disability. His regi- ment was in the Army of the Potomac and was detailed to duty around Washington, Alexandria and Northern Virginia. In the fall of 1864 he came to Michigan and settled in the township of Ridge- way, this county, purchasing a farm on Section 8, where he resided until the fall of 1875, when he sold out and purchased the Hiram 31
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ILLUSTRATED HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL
Raymond farm on Section 24, in Raisin township, which he still owns. He left the farm in 1901 owing to the physical disability of himself and wife and now resides in the village of Holloway. December 20, 1865, James McIntyre married Miss Adelia M. Lowe, daughter of Justus and Mary (Lamberson) Lowe, of Ridgeway, this county, and they have three children, as follows: Ellisse Justus, born in Ridge- way, February 19, 1867, married September 24, 1892, Miss Carrie Gray. They have two sons, Loyal D., born August 20, 1893, and Kenneth A., born July 3, 1895, and reside on Section 24, in Macon ; James C., born February 5, 1873, married December 23, 1896, Miss Viola E. Wildey. They have three children, James E., born Septem- ber 22, 1898, Mary Mildred, born May 20, 1901, John Donald, born April 22, 1903, and reside on Section 26, in Raisin; David W., born January 23, 1875, married, April 15, 1903, Miss Cora E. Gray, has one son, Albert Earl, born February 10, 1904, and resides on Sec- tion 24, in Raisin. Mrs. Adelia M. (Lowe) McIntyre, was born in Ridgeway, this county, October 11, 1844. For her family relation see Coonrod L. Lowe's record in this volume. She was educated in the district schools of Ridgeway, and graduated at the State Normal School at Ypsilanti, in the full English Course, March 19, 1863. She taught school in Lenawee County continuously from that time until her marriage. She has always been active in the Ladies' Aid So- ciety, and in the First Presbyterian church of Raisin, was president of the James Henry Eaton W. R. C., No. 118, at Britton for nine years, and was Lady Commander of Osgood Hive, No. 285, L. O. T. M., for four years at Holloway. Her eye sight failed her in 1898, and she has been practically blind since that time.
MINOR DAVIDSON was born in Macon, this county, May 8, 1833, being one of the very first to be born in the township. His father, Simeon Davidson, was born in Lodi, Seneca County, N. Y., June 26, 1804. He was the son of John and Catharine Davidson, who were natives of New Jersey, and pioneers of Seneca County, N. Y. Simeon Davidson was raised a farmer, but he learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed for several years. He came to Michigan in 1831, and settled on Section 30, in Macon, this county, and resided there until 1854, when he purchased a farm on Sections 25 and 36, in Tecumseh, consisting of 670 acres, at the same time owning 160 acres in Macon. The farm which he purchased in Tecumseh was considered nearly worthless. The soil was light, and it had been "run out," but Mr. Davidson thought he could bring it up, which he succeeded in doing, and made it one of the most desirable and pro- ductive farms in the county. He cleared off about 200 acres of it, built good buildings, etc. During the first few years of his residence
-
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RECORD OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
in Lenawee County, he followed his trade, when not obliged to work on his farm. He built many of the first houses, barns, mills and bridges in the northern portion of the county, and after the county began to be settled, and the people were able to build, he engaged in contracting and building, employing a gang of men. No man in the northern half of Lenawee county was better known than he. His first settlement in Macon was at a time when the country from Tecumseh to Monroe was an almost un- broken wilderness, when the few scattered pioneers were poor in this world's goods, with little to sustain them but strong muscles, stout hearts, faith in God and their own unflinching ener- gies. If he had but little to spare in those trying days of pioneer life he was ever ready "without money and without price" to divide that little with those more destitute than himself. When a log cabin was re- quired to shelter an emi- grant and his family, he was the first invited to the raising, and the first to re- spond to the call, and when frame dwellings of more pretensions succeeded the primitive structures, unless he could be present with his cheering voice as master of Simeon Davidson. the occasion, the raising would frequently be postponed until convenient for him to attend. In fact, as one of our most enterprising, energetic and liberal minded men, he was long and favorably known throughout Southern Michi- gan. As a farmer he was eminently successful; as the auctioneer of Northern Lenawee his services were regarded as indispensa- ble. In all public measures for the promotion of the social, re- ligious, moral and educational interests of his neighborhood, and for the general development of the resources of the country by rail- road or otherwise, he was ever ready to bear his full share of the burden. He was liberal without extravagance, economical without meanness, a good husband, a kind parent, and as a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, a christian without offensive zeal, or
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ILLUSTRATED HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL
undue pretension, ever ready to aid the poor and sympathize with the afflicted; it is not strange that from an early period to the day of his death, he was almost universally greeted wherever known, by the familiar name of "Uncle Sim." Although of ripe age, he passed away in the midst of an active and useful life, regretted by the whole community. He donated liberally for the construction of the fine brick church edifice at Ridgeway village, giving over $4,000 to
Mrs. Catherine E. Davidson.
Minor Davidson.
the building committee. About the year 1829 Simeon Davidson mar- ried Cerena Miller, daughter of Capt. Isaac and Anna Miller of Lodi, N. Y., by whom he had five children, as follows: George W. and Clarissa, deceased; Minor M., born in Macon, this county, May 8, . 1832, a farmer of Tecumseh ; Jehiel, born same place, May 19, 1835, a resident of Tecumseh village; Francisco, born same place, May 23, 1838. Mrs. Cerena Davidson, was born in Lodi, N. Y., and died in Macon, this county, in March, 1840. Her parents were of German extraction. They came to Michigan about 1833, and settled in Ma- con, this county, where they both died. Minor Davidson, subject of this sketch, has always lived in Lenawee County, and followed farm- ing. He was educated in the district school at Ridgeway village, and lived with his parents until his marriage. In January, 1855, he purchased a farm in Macon, on Section 32, where he resided until 1862. At that time he sold out and purchased a home, consisting of 165 acres, on Section 36, in Tecumseh. At the death of his father in 1874 he came into possession of about one hundred acres of the homestead, including the buildings, which he has since occupied.
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RECORD OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
His farm now consists of 311 acres, all in one body. He carries on mixed farming, and has been quite successful in breeding and raising short horn cattle. March 7, 1855, Minor Davidson married Miss Catherine E. Van Vleet, daughter of Peter P. and Lois (Swarthout) Van Vleet, of Ridgeway, and they have had two children, as fol- lows: One child died in infancy. Eunice D., born in Ridgeway, September 1, 1857, married, January 13, 1892, Daniel T. Hall, and has three children : Hazel C., born November 3, 1893 ; Russell D., born November 13, 1894; Donald T., born December 16, 1896. Mrs. Hall is a graduate of the Tecumseh public schools, and took a Chau- tauqua course, graduating in stenography. Mrs. Catherine E. Davidson was born in Ridgeway, August 9, 1836. Her parents were natives of Lodi, Seneca County, N. Y., and came to Michigan in 1832, first settling in Macon, but finally removed to Section 30, in Ridgeway, where they died.
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